Week 1

Week One [Days 1 and 2]: Introduction to Science Fiction and The Posthuman

                                   

Overview: During week one of the unit, students will be introduced to the genre of science fiction and ideas about the posthuman. They will ground themselves in terms and concepts, which will appear consistently throughout the unit. They will also begin examining the larger themes and questions that have operated within the genre by reading “On Not Defining Science Fiction” and the chapter titled “Science Fiction” from The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Posthuman. Finally, they will begin to analyze and apply these new ideas to the short story “Computer Friendly”.                                                   

Day 1 [75 minutes]

Readings:

  • Eric Carl Link and Gerry Canavan, “On Not Defining Science Fiction,” from The Cambridge History of Science Fiction (New York: Cambridge UP, 2019).
  • Lisa Yaszek and Jason W. Ellis, “Science Fiction,” from The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Posthuman (New York: Cambridge UP, 2016).

Objectives:

  • Define the concept of the “posthuman” and specific or frequently used vocabulary within SF studies.
  • Develop skills for examining fiction within historical and generic context.

Key Terms:

  • Posthuman
  • Cyborg
  • Android
  • Cyberpunk
  • Subjectivity
  • Cognition and estrangement
  • Speculative fiction

Agenda:

  • Opening Exercise [5 mins]: Ask students to write their own definitions of both “science fiction” and “the posthuman” in a couple of sentences. (Assure them that they do not need to have a perfect response. Ask them just to write what they think it means if they’re not sure.) Then ask them to share their definitions with the class (If you have the technological capability, have students type their definitions on a shared Google Doc that can be displayed on a projector).
  • Break-out groups [7 mins]:In break out groups, have students identify a passage from “On Defining Science Fiction” that they think describes what the science fiction genre seeks to do. Then have them share their passage with the class.
  • Group Discussion for “On Not Defining Science Fiction” [30 mins]:
  • Why do we set definitional boundaries for genre? What are the pros and cons of genre categorization? (Make a list on the board)
  • What do Link and Canavan mean when they say on pg. 4 that science fiction is a “brand”? What does this say about how genres are created and how pieces of writing are classified?
  • Darko Suvin defines Science Fiction as “….A literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition, and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to the author’s empirical environment”. Split the class in half and have some students look up the word “cognition” and the other half look up “estrangement” (they can use whatever devices they have available). Once students have shared the definitions, ask them why they think Suvin uses these words to describe science fiction and if they agree with this interpretation.
  • Break [5 mins]
  • Discussion for Chapter on “Science Fiction” from The Cambridge Companion of Literature and The Posthuman [25 mins]
  • On pg. 71, Yaszek and Ellis write, “….SF writers have explored the mutability and multiplicity of the human condition, treating the organic body as just one of several mediums for one or more reengineered posthuman species.” As a society, how can we benefit from speculation about the posthuman? Why might using mediums beyond or in conjunction with the organic human body be useful?
  • How would you describe the major historical and generic changes in ideas about the posthuman, as outlined in this text? (Maybe have students break into groups, give each group a different section to work with, and have them pull a passage they think exemplifies the specific ideas about the posthuman that were influential during that time period or within the subgenre).
  • Does anybody have any additional examples of literature, movies, or shows that focus on the Posthuman that were not mentioned in this chapter?
  • Connection to Future Content [3 mins]:
  • Describe how these texts provide a framework through which we can come to understand the possibilities within science fiction literature and studies about the posthuman. Briefly go over the topics which will be covered in the following weeks, and (if there is time) ask students why writers would use the posthuman as a means to explore some of these topics (Perhaps, just to get them thinking).

 

 Day 2 [75 minutes]

Readings:

  • “Computer Friendly” by Eileen Gunn

Lesson Objectives:

  • Define the concept of the “posthuman” and specific or frequently used vocabulary within SF studies.
  • Develop skills for examining fiction within historical and generic context.

Agenda:

  • Activate Prior Knowledge [5 mins]:
    • Have students write new definitions of science fiction and the posthuman to see if their definitions changed at all. See if anyone would like to share any changes they made to their original definitions (Show these new definitions to the class using a projector if possible).
  • Movie Trailer and Discussion [10 mins]:
    • Show students a trailer from the show “Upload”. Ask students to describe whether or not “Upload” and “Computer Friendly” fit their definitions of Sci-Fi. If so, how?
  • First Impressions [5 mins]:
    • Have students talk about their first impressions of the story “Computer Friendly”. Compare and Contrast the technology components in this story and the ones we saw in the trailer for
  • Break out groups [10 mins]:
    • Have a couple groups look for passages to answer this question: What science fiction tropes do you see exemplified in this work?
    • Have other groups look for passages to answer this question: What elements of the posthuman do you see depicted in this text?
    • Then have groups share what they found
    • Then ask, how science fiction and representations of the posthuman serve the story’s interest in critiquing the education system?
  • Break [5 mins]
  • General Discussion [35 mins]
    • What does Elizabeth’s desire to learn how to spit tell us about her character?
    • Look at the conversation between Elizabeth’s parents on pg. 65, what do we learn about a person’s value in this society?
    • Why are they measuring for predictability in this society and what does that have to do with Sheena?
    • Does the story look favorably on human integration with technology or not?
    • What is different about the education system in the story world vs that in our own world?
    • Do you think our modern society is too absorbed by technology? Why or why not? (Maybe, if there is time, ask whether or not our education system has become too absorbed by technology?)
  • Closing Activity [5 mins]:
    • Have them do an exit ticket answering the question: What about science fiction and the Posthuman, if anything, still confuses you?